The subject matter disclosed herein relates to fuel nozzles and, more specifically, to fuel nozzles having passive bi-directional oscillating fuel injection ports.
A gas turbine engine combusts a mixture of fuel and air to generate hot combustion gases, which in turn drive one or more turbines. In particular, the hot combustion gases force turbine blades to rotate, thereby driving a shaft to rotate one or more loads, e.g., electrical generator. As appreciated, a flame may develop in a combustion zone having a combustible mixture of fuel and air. Unfortunately, the flame can potentially propagate upstream from the combustion zone into the fuel nozzle, which can result in damage due to the heat of combustion. This phenomenon is generally referred to as flashback Likewise, the flame can sometimes develop on or near surfaces, which can also result in damage due to the heat of combustion. This phenomenon is generally referred to as flame holding. For example, the flame holding may occur on or near a fuel nozzle in a low velocity region. In particular, an injection of a fuel flow into an air flow may cause a low velocity region near the injection point of the fuel flow, which can lead to flame holding. In addition, conventional combustion systems are often characterized by high degrees of acoustic coupling, whereby heat releases in the combustor generate certain magnitudes of dynamic pressure at predominant frequencies that may cause detrimental effects to the combustor.